The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for generating operating components for operating devices of automation components. In particular, the present invention relates to generating a human machine interface (HMI) for controllers and/or a drive.
Complex controllers are designed and programmed with the aid of engineering systems. Control variables are defined and combined in individual engineering steps. The designs resulting therefrom, including the programs, configurations, images, operating and observing variables, etc., are stored in a special database. As required, these data are transferred from the database into the controller and/or the drive.
Operating devices and/or HMI units with the aid of which the controllers can be operated in a user-friendly fashion are frequently provided, not only in the case of complex controllers. The HMI units serve in this case for visualizing and setting relevant control variables.
The generation of HMI surfaces for HMI units requires a special HMI design, the HMI-relevant data from the engineering system, for example images, operating and observing variables, being further processed and, if appropriate, enhanced. The HMI surface thereby produced is loaded into the HMI unit and thereby permits the user to operate the controller and/or the drive as required in practice.
The generation of such HMI surfaces is very complicated, in some circumstances requires knowledge of the data structure of the engineering system, and generally also requires an interface to the data generated by the engineering system. However, in the case of updates of the engineering system and/or the controllers, it is to be ensured that the HMI surfaces are also changed consistently.
The object of the present invention therefore consists in simplifying the generation of HMI surfaces.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a method for generating operating components for operating devices of automation components by means of engineering an automation component by means of a plurality of engineering steps in an engineering system, offering one or more design steps for an operating component in the case of one or more of the engineering steps, and assembling the operating component at least partly with the aid of the design steps and the information on which the engineering steps are based.
The above-named object is also achieved by means of a device for parametrizing, commissioning and programming controllers, having an engineering device for the purpose of providing for an operator the engineering steps relating to parametrization, commissioning and/or programming, the engineering device can be used to set operating components for operating devices of automation components by offering the operator one or more design steps for an operating component in the case of one or more of the engineering steps.
Advantageous developments of the invention follow from the subclaims.
The present invention therefore permits the HMI information also to be generated by simple operating actions or in an automated fashion in normal engineering, it being possible for the technological knowledge present in the engineering system to be used for generating technologically oriented HMI components.